.
An election official walks beside a long ballot-sorting machine with numbered bins, past stacks of U.S. Postal Service trays.

An election official works alongside ballot-processing equipment, part of the testing and preparation that officials do to secure elections before voting begins. Photo: PBS NewsHour

How Do Officials Test Voting Machines?

October 19, 2026

How Do Officials Test Voting Machines?

Before a single vote is counted, local election officials spend weeks testing machines and verifying ballots. Students go behind the scenes to see how the process works and explore why officials say voters can trust the results.

Share

Share On Facebook
Share On Twitter
Share On Pinterest
Share On LinkedIn
Share On Microsoft Teams
Email
PBS News Hour Classroom
PBS News Hour Classroom
Follow

Midterm election season culminates on one important Election Day, but voting is already underway in many states. For the local officials who run elections, the work started even earlier. Liz Landers reports on how they prepare for voting and why they say voters should trust the process.

View the transcript of the story.

Short on time? Watch the video and complete the following See, Think, Wonder questions: What did you notice? What did the story make you think? What would you want to learn more about?

Warm-Up Questions

  1. When do local officials start preparing for elections?
  2. What are some of the ways local officials test voting machines?
  3. How are mailed ballots verified?
  4. Who has tried to challenge vote by mail?
  5. Why do voters sometimes doubt the security of elections, according to Brian McKenzie?

Essential Questions

  • What do you think Brian McKenzie means when he says that have a great "voter experience" is more important than speed of counting votes?
  • What ideas do you have to make elections more secure? What about ways to build trust among voters about the accuracy of results?
  • Media literacy: How could you find out more about the sort of risks that election officials worry about? Which do you think are most concerning?

What Students Can Do

Watch the following segment on the Trump administration's efforts to reshape elections. After watching, discuss:

  • What role do you think the federal government should have in securing elections, if any?
  • Why do you think the U.S. election system favors local control instead of national control, even in national elections?
  • Do you think new emerging technologies such as AI could make elections more secure, less secure or neither? Why do you think so?

newsletter sign up

Republished with permission from PBS News Hour Classroom.

PBS News Hour Classroom
PBS News Hour Classroom helps teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories. The site combines the best of News Hour's reliable, trustworthy news program with lesson plans developed specifically for... See More
Advertisement

Post a comment

Log in or sign up to post a comment.